Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Don't Peek Carelessly
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Now that I'd gotten a summon, it was time to call it out right away.
"Summon Shadow Moth."
Mana drained out of me in a rush. Summoning the Ebony Cockroach already locked up about 30 mana in an unusable state, and adding the Shadow Moth on top brought the total to 80 mana unavailable.
'If my Magic Power stat were on par with other players, summoning two at once would be a real burden.'
Having 80 Magic Power tied up in an unusable state would be a massive loss for most, but it didn't faze me. I could still spam skills and fight even if I summoned Kyseria on top of that. All thanks to the Black Serpent's inner core and the Twisted Black Serpent's inner core. Those two really dropped my survival difficulty through the floor.
"Pusss... Pusspus..."
I was busy patting myself on the back for devouring those inner cores when darkness gathered in front of me, coalescing into a massive moth.
"Whoa..."
It didn't repulse me as much as the Ebony Cockroach did at first glance. Just a black-and-white mottled moth in an achromatic palette. It looked like an oversized ordinary insect. From the front, at least.
"Ugh... yeah, figures."
But tilt the angle a bit, and there were four wriggling tentacles—or whatever they were—attached to its rear end. Watching that furry, freakish part squirming made my appetite vanish and my scalp tingle with shock.
The moment I spotted its genitalia, all my smugness evaporated, goosebumps erupting across my skin.
'Fuck... of course. No way my summon wouldn't be gross.'
It hit me with mental damage the instant I laid eyes on it. Chicken skin everywhere.
'This thing... it's a damn Ganges moth, isn't it?'
The color scheme was different, but the physical features were nearly identical. Bigger size just made it creepier.
It gave me the same vibe as when I first summoned the Ebony Cockroach. Hard to get attached.
'Well... I ended up growing fond of the Ebony Cockroach for its performance anyway.'
I'd hated the Ebony Cockroach at first. Its appearance was so grotesque and nightmarish. But after it racked up merits a few times, now just seeing it made me feel secure and calm. This one might grow on me after a few showings. Humans adapt, after all.
"You do a great job following the Ebony Cockroach's lead and fulfilling your role."
"Pusss..."
I forced my eyes away from its writhing, bulging grotesque bits and offered some encouragement. Not sure if it understood, but it tapped my hand with its antennae, so it didn't seem upset.
'Wings make it look even bigger than the Ebony Cockroach.'
I took in the Shadow Moth's overall form. Its body was about the size of a human torso. But the wings shedding scale powder were huge, giving it the bulk of a compact car.
"Cough. Cough... sheds a ton of powder..."
Just standing there, it scattered scales around me. Leaving it nearby too long would make breathing tough.
"Patrol the area by flying around for now."
"Pus..."
Flutter!
The Shadow Moth took flight. Scale dust poured from its wings, billowing like pollen. Fine dust levels off the charts.
'Powder all over my clothes already...'
A summon that drains its master's life force in real time... Way too gross and unpleasant to keep close. Its silhouette against the night sky was eerie enough to inspire fear.
Already feels rock-solid reliable. Releasing it with the Ebony Cockroach deep in enemy lines? Casualty counts incoming.
Off-putting even to allies, constant powder shedding. Plus, the Shadow Moth's scales could convert to corrosive dust for aerial strikes on the ground. Like drone-spraying pesticides over U.S. farmlands, but deadlier.
'Aerial corrosive bombing...'
A nightmare for enemies. Even I think it'd be frustrating to fight. God pity anyone who crosses me.
A summon superior to the Ebony Cockroach in some ways: flying around the mart, laying eggs to kill skeletons and spread corrosion damage.
'But being human-origin, the Ebony Cockroach has better brains.'
I asked Indicron if this one was human-origin too. She said no right away.
The Ebony Cockroach, real name Aquunas, was definitely human, per Indicron. But the Shadow Moth? Abyss-born creature. Probably doesn't think as sharply.
'Still, aerial ground attacks are a huge merit.'
I smiled in satisfaction, shaking off my padding dusted white.
The powder clung like cat hair, hard to brush off. If corrosive powder stuck the same way, it'd rot clothes and skin nonstop. Victims might as well be half-dead.
One downside: friendly fire possible. I'd have to manage it carefully.
"Alright, next up..."
Abyss line filled the Eternal Contract slot with Shadow Moth. Time for Chaos Observation.
Might as well go all in after the successful pull. Was gonna stand guard a bit longer and call it, but intuition screamed another win now.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Crowl-bin-kesio" Like Abyss Observation, I pressed my fingertips together into a triangle and chanted the Chaos chant.
'Crowl-bin' matched Abyss, so probably meant "observe" or something.
Skill activated, and soon the triangle filled with indescribable hyper-vivid colors, shifting and sparkling like alien hues from space.
Staring into the twinkling light dazed my mind.
'This is Chaos Observation...'
Abyss Observation felt depressing, sinking into subtle despair. This? Mind floating, blanking out.
"Uh... ugh..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. Any longer, and my brain might literally twist up.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Observation failed.] "Damn it."
Wasted a karma. One karma equals one life—such a shame. With disasters ramping up difficulty and sacrifices dwindling, losing one stung.
'Sigh... wasn't expecting first-try success anyway.'
Keep rolling till it hits. Worked so far. It'll happen eventually.
Stop thinking "pull something." Just empty mind and spin. Till it drops. Karma's plentiful from all the humans I've killed.
"Crowl-bin-kesio"
I burned more hoarded karma on Chaos Observations, roughly 12 blank tries.
Then, reaction.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Grrruk... Grruruk...] How to describe that bizarre sound?
Like squeezing thick sludge? Like kids squishing slime toys, goo slipping through fingers.
"Wh-what...?"
The fleshy, squelching noise felt oddly erotic. Curiosity piqued, I pressed my ear to the chaos-linked hole.
Slurp...
"Gah!! Fuck!"
Something shot out and licked my earlobe before vanishing. Felt just like when Kashnax tasted me.
Chaos entity addressed my shock with intent-laden sound.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Grrruk... Grruruk...] Laughter.
I understood instinctively. More like it forced comprehension, injecting emotions directly into my head.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ear... good? Fate? Human... Grrruk.. Human... Human.. Human. Human. Cultist. My human. My little human. Mine. Mine. MINE.] "Crazy... what the hell...?"
Its intent flooded me roughly.
Obsessed with me. Emotions overflowing boundaries.
Dangerous. Kyseria-level. Maybe worse.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜 [The Writhing Malice reacts intensely to the All-Demon's Favor.]
📍 Entity: The being rooted in the Twisted Place, 'First Tentacle,' takes interest in you.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📋 Contract Conditions: Level 15+. Magic Power 500+. Servant of Kashnax. ✅ Status: All conditions met. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ['First Tentacle' and Eternal Contract...] [Warning! Error occurred! Warning!...] "Wh-what the hell!!"
Text glitching out. A bundle of tentacles burst from the chaos hole, wrapping my face.
Sticky... warm tentacles choked my breath.
One tentacle slithered into my ear... burrowing... in... wh-what...?
"Gaaaaah!!!!"
Pain.
Brain-stirring agony.
No.
Warmth.
Cherished embrace.
Similarity.
Pleasure.
Tingly weird ecstasy.
Discovery.
Pleasure. Joy. Laughter. Smile.
Injection.
"Hahahaha!!!!"
"O-oppa!!!"
"No fuck!! What is that thing!!!"
"Knife!! Cut it quick! Get the knife!!!"
"It won't cut!!! Mer-unnie!!! Pull oppa from behind!!"
"Damn it!! Won't budge!! Cut the connected hand, the wrist..."
"What crazy talk!!"
Faint women's screams. Then gone.
I stood somewhere. Some place.
Waves crashed on cliffs.
Wind bent grass. Eyeballs floating in night sky stared at me.
Staring. Staring. Staring.
Something watched me.
Eye contact.
Ainak smiling at me. No, Einax? Einakus.
We're friends. Best friends. Soulmates.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Cute human. Wanna contract with me? I'll treat you good.] "Yeah. Sounds good! Let's contract!"
Thought froze solid.
I must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
Must contract.
"Gulaad-bille."
My mouth moved on its own, chanting Eternal Contract.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Contract established.] The ear-burrowing tentacle yanked out.
Blood trickled from my ear, but mucus from the retreating tentacle soaked the torn wound, healing it fully. Eardrum mended.
Once confirmed, the face-wrapping tentacles wriggled back into chaos.
Chaos Observation canceled. I doubled over, vomiting wildly.
"Urk! Bluuuugh..."
Dinner came up intact. Stomach churning. Head spinning. Vision unstable, world in weird sparkling colors. Glitter everywhere.
Alien emotions lingered, driving me mad.
Why does this feel fun?
Not mine. The tentacle's.
My mind slightly corrupted.
"F-fuck... just now... something entered my head... Cr-cocoa... wanna drink cocoa."
"Oppa... sob... Oppa... I'll make cocoa... Oppa... please don't hurt..."
Eun-ji hugged me crying. Sorry, but no bandwidth to comfort. Fixing my vision took all I had.
The girls half-carried my babbling self to the bathroom.
Hee-sun Noona summoned Undine to wash off the mucus and vomit.
With their help, I changed and collapsed into a rooftop chair.
Warm cocoa handed over. Sipping blankly at nothing, my polluted mind cleared gradually.
"S-sorry... everyone."
"Haa... why does oppa always go solo... Sigh. What'd you eat this time...?"
"No, not that. Was hunting summons... something weird... appeared."
"Something weird?"
"Yeah... uh..."
I recalled the monster I'd contracted with. Or whatever.
Tentacle in ear killed rational thought. Felt my brain touched.
'What the hell happened...?'
Recalling the sensation nearly broke my mind. Terrifying shivers.
Merhere hugged me from behind, calming me. Her silent chest-stroking let me settle.
"It... was a monster with a giant eye."
What the tentacle showed: me alone in unknown place. Hallucination of field in ruined world. No clue where.
The moon... no, the monster masquerading as moon floated overhead, staring.
Eye contact made it my sole childhood friend. Despite never having one, lifelong outcast.
But I believed it my precious friend.
Mental attack, probably.
Then only thought: contract.
Obsessive compulsion, chanting till I Eternal Contracted as it wanted.
Clear boundary crossed. I summoned Kashnax accusingly.
'Ka... Kashnax-nim... what the...'
Kasnax hemmed and hawed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [That's... my First Tentacle. It'll be a fine ally. Congrats.] "No, this isn't congrats time!! Isn't this dangerous!?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [It just wanted to become one with you. Harmless.] "N-no... fuck... that's the dangerous part..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [...] Kashnax's presence faded.
She retreated without more words.
Indicron jumped in.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Fled in embarrassment.] "Huh? No, I nearly died... and she fled embarrassed?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Yes. 'First Tentacle' servants sync deepest with the tentacle monster's desires. Emotional resonance. So the 'become one' urge? Not the summon—it's Kashnax herself, its core.] No idea how Chaos works, but the slimy obsession from First Tentacle? Apparently Kashnax's.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Shut it, gloomy bitch.] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Gloomy's you.] Evil gods bickering insults. I booted them from my head. Skull throbbing too much. No more puking.
"Damn..."
Evil god love weighs heavy.
Heavy, creepy, scary.
Become one...? What...
I steadied my reeling mind with cocoa.
Why cocoa suddenly? No clue.
Overthinking stirred chaos. I just felt Mer's touch and closed my eyes briefly.
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